Fabian Cancellara, aka Spartacus, lived up to his status as the premier prologue specialist in the sport of professional cycling, smashing the competition and setting a winning time of 7 minutes and 13 seconds, with an average speed of 53.2 kmh. His victory put him in the first race leader’s yellow jersey of the 99th Tour de France.

Garmin-Sharp rider David Millar of Great Britain gathers himself after racing all-out around the 6.4-kilometer course. He finished 15th, 18 seconds down on Cancellara. Having ridden before his team leaders, Millar was able to give them feedback about the course and tips for how to get around it as fast as possible.

Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) won the Giro d’Italia in May after beating his main rival in a final time trial by a handful of seconds. At this year’s Tour de France, the tall Canadian will look to win his second Grand Tour in a row, but it’ll be tough. Some say he is likely going to be too tired. Yet he finished Saturday’s prologue in a solid 16th place, a sign that he might well be recovered and ready to battle against the top favorites, Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans.

Jens Voigt sets off for what could be his last Tour prologue time trial. A fan favorite, the 40-year-old German isn’t sure how much longer he’ll continue racing, but he has said he’s going to make the most of this year’s Tour all the same. He’ll play a support role to riders like Frank Schleck and Chris Horner as they look for stage wins and a podium spot in Paris.

Bradley Wiggins of the Sky Pro Cycling team is the heavy favorite to win this year’s Tour, but Cadel Evans (BMC) sits just a notch below him as the next big contender. Wiggins certainly kept his favorite status on Saturday, finishing the prologue faster than any his rivals for overall victory, coming in second behind Cancellara. With his superior ride over Evans in the prologue, the lanky Englishman starts the Tour with a psychological advantage over the Aussie.

Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team returns to defend his Tour de France title, but his lead-up to the race has been widely regarded as less than stellar. Evans finished 17th in the prologue, 10 seconds behind Wiggins and 17 behind Cancellara. The Australian told the media rather philosophically that his prologue performance was not good but also not bad.

The slender American rider Tejay van Garderen put in an impressive ride to finish fourth on the day, just 10 second off the pace of the powerful Cancellara. He beat his own team leader, Evans, too, and he'll wear the white jersey as the best young rider in the race on Stage 1, as he was the fastest of all cyclists age 25 and under.